


New Year's Eve

by starlightfury



Series: A Rowaelin Holiday [2]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightfury/pseuds/starlightfury
Summary: It’s New Year’s Eve and Rowan and Aelin are spending it at Aedion and Lysandra’s party.





	New Year's Eve

If Aelin had been told two weeks ago that for New Year’s Eve she’d finally have someone to kiss at midnight, she wouldn’t have believed it. She _definitely_ wouldn’t have believed it if she had been told that person would be Rowan Whitethorn (not that she wouldn’t have wanted it to be; in fact, that was _exactly_ what she’d wanted).

But it was now a week after the mistletoe incident, and she had been kissing Rowan Whitethorn a lot.

Two days after Christmas, they’d gone on their first date. Aelin, feeling guilty that she now had a boyfriend but no Christmas gift to give him, had made an emergency shopping trip before they’d gone out. She paced the aisles of Target, unsure of what he would want, before settling on some fancy peppermint hot chocolate mix and deciding to just bake some cookies. Rowan gave her a Christmas candle and a scarf, which made her secretly giddy; he had noticed that she loves wearing scarves in the winter. They spent a lot of time together over the week since they both had time off. They’d done stuff, of course—went out to lunch a couple of times, did some grocery shopping, and took a trip to the library, where Rowan had been content to watch Aelin fawn over her favorite books—but mostly they just stayed in one of their apartments, on the couch, their tongues in each other’s mouths.

Lysandra, of course, was thrilled that her matchmaking had worked and took every opportunity to remind Aelin that she probably wouldn’t be in this position without the meddling. New Year’s Eve was no exception. Lysandra teased Aelin about Rowan incessantly as they helped Aedion set up for yet another party. Aelin just rolled her eyes with a faint smile. At 5 p.m., an hour before the party was set to start, Rowan showed up with armfuls of food. Lysandra smirked at Aelin, who rose from her place on the couch with a smile and went to help him.

“You could feed an army with all this,” Aelin observed.

“That’s the idea,” Aedion grinned. “It’s not a party until it’s a big party.”

Rowan grimaced; he was more of a small gathering kind of guy. Aelin liked that about him. He valued the quality of the people around him, not the quantity. Aelin didn’t mind big parties too much. She’d always been social, and she couldn’t deny that she secretly wanted to flaunt her new relationship in front of everyone, even though she’d pretty much already done that a week ago at the Christmas Eve party. She watched Rowan set food on the table. A small smile pulled up the corners of her lips as a warm feeling curled in her stomach. He caught her looking at him and smiled. She blushed slightly, realizing that this was a feeling she wanted to hold on to forever.

 

* * *

 

A few hours into the party, Rowan found Aelin discussing a book with Dorian in the living room. He touched her arm gently. She turned to look at him, reading his expression. It was only 10, and he was getting tired of having to deal with so many people. Aelin excused herself and followed Rowan to a corner of the kitchen, where it was a little quieter.

“Would it be awful of us to just get out of here?” He was only half joking.

Aelin smiled sympathetically. “We have to at least stay until midnight.”

Rowan sighed. “I know. I just need some space.”

“I’d suggest going out on the balcony, but it’s freezing and I didn’t bring a coat.”

“Right here is fine for now.” He pulled her close, savoring the brightness in her eyes that seemed to be reserved just for him. “I’d kiss you, but we’re not exactly alone and I don’t think I’d be able to stop in time to keep from making anyone uncomfortable,” Rowan murmured.

“Maybe we should get out of here, then,” Aelin said.

Rowan huffed a laugh. “You were the one who said we had to stay.”

“Well, if we’re obligated to stay, then we might as well enjoy ourselves.” She kissed him. Rowan made a sound in the back of his throat and tightened his arms around her. With every movement of her lips against his, he cared less and less about who saw them. All that mattered was Aelin.

 

* * *

 

Neither of them knew how long they’d been wrapped up in each other before Lysandra cleared her throat and they’d been forced to come up for air. Their heads were spinning and neither of them properly processed it when Lysandra started talking.

“I’m glad you guys are happy, but do you really have to do that where the food is? You’re making everyone want to gag.”

Aelin, blushing profusely, mumbled a sheepish apology. Rowan couldn’t help but stare at her, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again and never stop. Lysandra raised an eyebrow and walked away. Rowan cleared his throat. “Maybe, um… it’s probably a good idea if we separate for a while.” Aelin nodded, and stepped away, heading for the bathroom.

Rowan went to the door to the balcony. He opened it carefully so it wouldn’t let too much cold air in. He didn’t have a coat, and the freezing temperature hit him like a shock, cooling the boiling feeling in his veins. He took a deep breath, the frigid air making his lungs ache. It occurred to him that he was in a lot deeper than he originally thought.

Meanwhile, Aelin was splashing cold water on her face, wondering how she had let her self-control slip like that. She’d had a big crush on Rowan for a while, but now it seemed like more than that. She only hoped that she wasn’t the only one that felt this way.

* * *

 

There were ten minutes until midnight. Lysandra was going around refilling champagne glasses for the toast to the new year. Aelin had lost count of how many glasses she’d had. _There isn’t_ that _much alcohol in champagne_ , she reasoned. She suspected that she hadn’t had as much as she felt like she had and that, more than anything else, she was drunk on happiness.

On Rowan.

She felt him watching her from across the room. Since their rendezvous in the kitchen, they’d separated themselves so they wouldn’t get into any more trouble. When the clock turned to 11:59, he finally allowed himself to come near her again. Aedion cheerfully started a countdown as Rowan pulled Aelin into his arms. Aelin willed herself to find some self-control and not lose herself in Rowan again.

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Happy New Year!” The crowd cheered in unison, clinking champagne glasses and sharing kisses.

Rowan smiled. “Happy New Year, Aelin.”

She returned it. “Happy New Year, Rowan.” She managed to keep her composure when he kissed her, but her heart was hammering in her chest.

“This party is going to go on for at least three more hours,” Rowan said. “Why don’t we get out of here?”

Fifteen minutes later, they were able to make their escape. They got to Rowan’s apartment first. Aelin turned to say goodbye, finding that Rowan was wearing a sly grin.

“It’s late,” he said. “Lots of crazies out tonight. It’s probably not a good idea for you to walk home alone.”

Aelin raised her eyebrows. “It’s fifty feet down the hall.”

“You should probably spend the night at my place. You know, just to be safe.”

Aelin punched his arm. “If you want me to come in, all you have to do is ask.”

“Fine. Would you like to come in?”

Aelin pretended to ponder it. “Well, that depends. What are we going to do?”

Rowan pulled her close, brushing his nose against hers. “I have a few ideas.”

Aelin’s heart skipped a beat. _Finally._ “In that case, yes, I would.”

He smiled deviously and kissed her, pulling her into the apartment with him and closing the door.


End file.
